Individual soul as eight-fold city

Rama asks sage Vasishta in yogavasishta, "Revered sage, can you tell me the characteristics of individual soul and what is called 'eight fold city'?" Vasishta replies "Individual soul(jeeva) is nothing but the same supreme spirit having no beginning and end and which is the origin of this world and which remains untainted. Only when it is viewed as specified within a space-time boundary and perceived as having an impulse to act, it is considered individual soul or jeeva. That individual soul gathers experience and moves in the physical body. The individualized consciousness of the soul functions in the body from different faculties each having its own presiding deity or specific consciousness relevant to that specific function. The consciousness is called ahankara(ego)on account of the feeling of 'I'. The consciousness is called manas(mind) because of thinking The consciousness is called Buddhi(intellect) on account of understanding or certainty of knowledge.

The consciousness is also called Indriyas(organs of sense) from the view that presiding deities function through the physical organs. The consciousness is called the body on account of the ideation or imagination of body or a pot due to the conception of pot. This individual soul or jeeva comprising the above eight constituents (mind, ego, intellect and five sense organs) is considered as the eight-fold city(puryashtaka). Only because of this eight-fold city, people see this world. In fact this world is just like apparently unreal dream after dream. Rama, pondering over this, live life happily free from sorrow.